THEYDON BOIS: Villagers meet over commuter car park (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

THEYDON BOIS: Villagers meet over commuter car park

12:01pm Sunday 31st October 2010 in Your Local Areas By Edmund Tobin

The TBAG meeting at the Queen Victoria pub

A VILLAGE campaign group held a drop-in session for residents to learn more about controversial plans for a commuter car park.

Theydon Bois Action Group (TBAG) set up at the Queen Victoria pub, in Coppice Row, to display copies of the plans for the intended 179 space car park.

Around 60 residents attended to take in the plans for the car park which is intended to be built on Green Belt land off Abridge Road.

A spokeswoman for TBAG said: “All the residents bar one had very strong reservations about the proposal and either signed the pro forma objection prepared by TBAG, or planned to return home to either write their own objection or comment online.

“TBAG will be using the comments made by visitors to formulate their collective response to the application.”

The developer behind the car park plans, George Dilloway, has said his scheme will ease commuter parking in Theydon Bois, and has claimed to have many supporters in the village.

One of them, Valerie Keeley, 62, of Theydon Park Road, Theydon Bois, said: “I've lived here ten years and the situation is ridiculous. I've got a sister in Havering-atte-Bower. She's got no bus service and her nearest station is Theydon Bois. She's got nowhere to park.

“Parking on the roads is a nightmare. We've got yellow lines outside but that creates more problems because people end up parking all over. I've always supported the car park, I can't see how it can't help.”

People have until Friday, November 5 to makes comments on the application to Epping Forest District Council, at the Civic Offices, in Epping High Street.